Black,White and Everything in Between
by MurrayGolds-LoveChild
Summary: The 42nd century is plagued with crime and fear but for the Doctor and Rose, there is only pain when they are faced with a moral dilemma like no other for their enemy is none other then the ancestor's of Jack Harkness.
1. Prologue

_**Disclaimer:** We do not in anyway claim ownership of Doctor Who, that privilege resides with the BBC_

_**Summary:** The 42nd century is plagued with crime and fear but for the Doctor and Rose, there is only pain when they are faced with a moral dilemma like no other for their enemy is none other then the ancestor's of Jack Harkness. _

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

The scene is reminiscent of an aristocrat's portrait.  
>Thamal Harkness, patriarch of the Harkness clan lounges comfortably on a black wooden chair of epic proportions, against the back wall of a lengthy room, swinging his revolver around lazily in one hand.<p>

His handsome face is twisted into a sneer of hatred; his grey-green eyes shudder inducing.

At his feet, his vicious wolfhound lays spread out on the carpet besides its master's daughter, Zamaya, her golden curls bouncing softly as she moves left and right.

The girl is playing quietly with her dolls, all seven of which lay scattered on the floor.  
>It could almost be considered cosy, if there wasn't a bloodied corpse lying eagle spread in the middle of the room like a throw rug.<p>

Thamal occasionally points his revolver at the corpse and mimes shooting it in the back before laughing harshly and turning to the woman hidden in the right hand corner by the one of the tall Corinthian pillars supporting the roof.

"That's what happens, Sherie my love, when you double cross the family!" Thamal calls out to her in a mocking voice.  
>The woman shudders involuntarily, drawing her arms around her body as if they can protect her.<p>

The gesture does not go un-noticed. Thamal gets off his throne like chair and sprints over to the woman, grabbing a hold of her long brown hair so that she can not escape him.  
>The woman shrieks in pain, attempting to claw at him with her long nails. Thamal responds by tightening his grip.<br>"You can't escape me, _till death do us part_, remember?" He sneers down at her as she tries to struggle free.

When she continues to struggle Thamal presses his gun to her temple. Instantly Sherie quietens down, her eyes wide with fear.

From her spot on the carpet, little Zamaya raises her head and, grasping her doll firmly by the scruff of its neck she clambers to her feet.

"Burn her" Zamaya cries, her voice hard and bitter, more mature then her 6 years.

She begins to twist the dolls plastic head until it comes clean away from the body.

Thamal licks his lips as he stares down at Sherie, considering his daughters words.

When he doesn't reply Zamaya stomps her foot on the ground in anger, "I said burn her, wring her neck like a chicken till she can't breathe no more then burn her body till there's nothing left but ashes and eddies. I need something to jump on!" She cries maliciously, so different to the fragile shell of a small child that she is encased in.

Thamal smiles down at his daughter, so much potential, he's glad he kept her.

He looks back to his wife who is watching Zamaya in a mixture of pity and terror.

"She's a regular chip off the old block isn't she Sherie?"Thamal asks with an evil chuckle.

"I'm even thinking of giving her own division of the family business, interrogation! I think she'll do well!"

Sherie gives a cry of pure terror, giving up all attempts to escape and hiding her face in her hands.

With a grunt of disgust, Thamal releases his grip on her and let's her fall to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.

Zamaya waits patiently as Thamal walks away from Sherie to pick her up and twirled her around like any father would do.

As he places her back on the ground he reaches in his pocket to pull out a box of matches and gestures to the bloodied corpse.

Zamaya shakes her head and points instead to Sherie.

Thamal's face darkens, "NO!" He cries harshly, slapping her in the face.

The little girl staggers backwards, her hand reaching up to touch her left cheek, but she does not cry.

Instead she glares at her father until he hisses, "We need her!"

Zamaya's frown deepens but she says nothing and instead takes the box of matches her father holds out to her.

Thamal ruffles her hair in response and gestures to the corpse once more, "No kerosene, just let him burn sweetie, nice and slow like a spit roast"

At this, Sherie's sobbing grows louder, drowning out all other sounds.  
>"You're sick!" She shrieks, violently hitting the ground with her fist, "You sick twisted bastard, you did this to her." She gestures wildly to Zamaya, "She's like that because of you!"<p>

The Wolfhound on the floor begins to growl menacingly, awoken from its sleep but it's master raises a hand and it quietens at once, lowering its head again.

Thamal puts an arm around his daughter in mock protection as he addresses his wife. "This darling, is an improvement, all you did was give her these stupid dolls to play with" and with that he snatches a lone doll from the floor and aims it at the corpse.  
>It lands beside the body; face down in a small pool of blood trickling slowly from the corpse.<p>

"Go on" he urges his daughter, looking down at the box in her hand.

Zamaya obediently opens the box and pulls out a single match, striking it eagerly against the edge of the box until it catches fire.

With sickening joy she runs over to the corpse and let's the match land on the man's jacket.

Zamaya watches with anticipation as the jacket catches on fire, urging the fire on to consume the body.

Thamal stands where he is, grinning at her as Sherie looks between the two of them, pure misery etched on her beautiful features.

Slowly she stumbles to her feet and runs out of the room without glancing back.

Father and daughter are too bewitched by the flames to notice.

There is nothing to be done about her brother's body, by morning he will be nothing but ash on the carpet, and _she_ will be the one to sweep it up.

But, if she does anything right in this life, she will make sure Thamal never does this to someone else's family.

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><p><strong><em>Please review guys, <em>**

_any feedback is greatly appreciated!_


	2. Chapter 1: The Glory Of A City Long Gone

_The more I seem to write about Rose the more i seem to like her, just the teenest bit :) (this is Lindal by the way, Cassidy is a die-hard Rose fan!) _

_anyways, Enjoy! _

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><p><strong>Chapter one: The Glory Of A City Long Gone <strong>

"The Shining City" the Doctor exclaimed in excitement, running around the Tardis console, pausing briefly here and there to flick a switch or pull a lever before spinning back to Rose, an impossibly large grin on his face.

"The what?" Rose asked, arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

"The Shining City" the Doctor repeated, if possible, even more animated. " The Capital of the 3rd great and bountiful Human empire, the piece de resistance, the citadel of humankind, the..."

And he would have continued had Rose not held up her hands in protest and said,  
>"Ok, ok, its very important I get that. But what's it got to do with us Doctor?"<p>

The Doctor's grin reappeared as he paused in front of her.  
>He took her hand in his and twirled her around once as he replied,<p>

"That's where I'm taking you. Brilliant isn't it?" He asked as she came back around to face him. She nodded and he continued,  
>"Rose Tyler in the 42nd Century."<p>

She laughed as he let go of her hand to run over to the scanner.

"Just give us a second" The Doctor muttered, hitting the side of the scanner repeatedly until it gave him the answers he was looking for.

"There we are, 4169, ohooo, its new years eve!"  
>He cried, looking up at Rose for some indication that she was remotely interested.<p>

"Well, what are we waiting for" she beamed back, grabbing her coat off the chair and putting it on.

The Doctor gave his usual cry of "Allon-sy!" Before bounding down to the doors and throwing them open.

Rose lingered behind him, watching him with a smile on her face before following him out of the doors.

The smile was instantly replaced with a look of slight disgust, "The Shining city huh? Looks more like where mum does her shopping"  
>Rose said, glancing at her surroundings.<p>

They were standing on a badly damaged road which was pockmarked with potholes and deep cracks.

The houses lining the streets were all boarded up and the Windows that hadn't been smashed had been blacked out.  
>Graffiti decorated the outside walls and, from what Rose could see from the empty windowpanes, the insides as well.<p>

"No,no,no" The Doctor cried, hands running through his hair as he looked from one end of the street to the other.  
>"That's not how it's supposed to be!"<p>

"Ok, so it's like paying for the Ritz and getting a motel instead, what's the big deal Doctor?" Rose asked, not really seeing any problem. It looked like any rundown town on earth anyways.

"This" The Doctor gestured to the row of houses on the left, "Its not right, sonethings very very not right here. This is the 42nd century, the Age of the human. You lot are spread out everywhere, living your lives, sooo, where are all the people?" He cried, dooming around to stare at the empty street.  
>"Heloo, what's that there?" He cried suddenly in a distracted kind of tone, pointing to something in the jet black sky above them.<br>"Where?" Rose asked, craning her neck to see.

"It's a shooting star!" The Doctor cried, pointing it out for her to see.

Sure enough, there in the sky, in perfect contrast against the inky blackness, the ghostly blue-white trail of a shooting star could be seen, making its way from on end of the sky to the other.

The Doctor bounded over to Rose's side and held out his hand to her just as he had done so many times before and she took it gratefully, interwining it with her own and giving a small squeeze.

"This is more like it. Still beauty to be found among rubble. I wish you could have seen the City in it's heyday Rose, the highest skycrapers were made of pure marble, and at sunset, the light would hit the buildings at just the right angle and it would shine for miles around. Just like that Star there" " The Doctor muttered, gesturing to the star.

Both turned their heads to the sky to watch the star, content despite their surroundings.

That was precisely why they didn't see the woman who turned the corner and into the street, running frantically as she looked over her shoulder to see whether she was being followed or not.

Nor did she see them.

And that was how she ran straight into the Doctor.

"Ooff" The Doctor cried in surprise as he was knocked onto the road, letting go of Rose's hand as he did so.

"Doctor" Rose cried, bending down to help him up again.

The Doctor accepted gratefully, leaning on her for support for a second or two while he regained his breath before he spun round to stare down at the figure next to him.

"Oh, hello there, in a bit of a rush I see? Bit of last minute shopping to do?" He asked in a friendly tone.

Slowly, the woman raised her head so that she could hold his gaze.

Her eyes were a lovely sea green, spotted with flecks of gray and gold, but that was not what the Timelord noticed, he was to busy assesing the dilated pupils which indicated fear.

He also noticed an ugly looking cut just above her chin, sloping upwards towards the right side of her mouth.

"Are you ok?" He asked, bending down to examine the cut more closely.

The woman shrieked in response and scurried backwards, sheilding her face.

"You're not a Doctor, there haven't been Doctors for years!" She hissed.

Rose and the Doctor exchanged a glance before the former addressed the woman,  
>"Listen, we can help you. My names Rose, what's yours?" Rose asked, cautiously edging towards the woman who gave a manic laugh and replied in a bitter tone,<br>"As if you don't know me!"

"No really, we're not from here you see" Rose pressed on.  
>While the Doctor slowly began to edge towards the woman and sit down next to her.<p>

The woman put her arm down so that her elbow rested on her knees and glanced between the two timetravellers.

"But, that's impossible. Travel is restricted between cities. Only, only the organizations officials can get through" she said in a confused and slighty suspicious tone.

"What's the or-" Rose began to ask before the Doctor shot her a glance and reached into his coat to pull out the psychic paper.

He waved it carelessly in front of the woman's face.

"Inspector John Smith, you can call me the Doctor. This here's my colleague, Rose Tyler."

"You're the police?" The woman asked incredulously. "You two are brave ones. I'll give you that!" She went on gesturing to her surroundings.

"This is the twilight zone. No coppers come down here, not if they want to live." She paused to laugh harshly, allowing the Doctor to ask,

"What's your name?"

She took a moment to reply,  
>"Sharon, Sherie for short"<p>

Encouraged by her co-operation, Rose took a seat next to her and asked,  
>"You said this is the twilight zone, what's that mean then?"<p>

Sherie took a deep breath as she turned to meet Rose's gaze,  
>"Look around you. Is there anyone else here?"<br>When Rose shook her head she went on,  
>" every 20 years, there are these soldiers, and they come in to this area, and kill all of the adults, only the kids are left to grow up and then..." Sherie stopped, unable to finish the sentence, her whole body trembling.<p>

"And they kill them too, leaving their kids behind" The Doctor finished for her, understanding.  
>He went on in a hard tone, "why hasn't anyone tried to stop it, generations of people being slaughtered and no one stands up?"<p>

"Because no one cares!" Sherie replied in an equally harsh tone, eyes focused on the broken concrete in front of her.  
>"People don't care, as long as their towns get left alone." She muttered sadly as an afterthought.<p>

There was a moment of silence after that, where the Doctor turned away to look at the broken houses and Rose remained fixed on Sherie.

"I was one of the lucky ones" Sherie said after a minute or two. "If you consider it lucky, watching the people you grew up with being slaughtered before your eyes"

Rose's eyes widened. "You got away then?" She said, moving closer and putting a hand on the other woman's shoulder.

Sherie shook her head but didn't elaborate.

"What do you know about this organization?"The Doctor asked suddenly, turning back around to face the women.

Sherie laughed once more and lifted her head up to meet his gaze.

"You're asking the right person Doctor,"

"And why's that?" The Doctor asked back curiously.

"Because I'm married to their leader."

There was a stunned pause for a second or two, Rose and The Doctor exchanging a glance before Rose began to ask "why would y-"

Only to be cut off by the Doctor who bent down and put a finger to her lips to stop her from talking, "Can anyone else hear that?" He asked, lifting his free hand to the sky up above.

Rose strained to hear and sure enough, there in the distance was the sound of a siren of sorts, barely noticeable before.

Sherie began to moan at the sound of it, covering her face in her hands, "that's the alarm, we broke curfew!" She wailed.

"You have to get out of here!"  
>She told them, after a moment or two, scrambling to her feet as she did so.<br>"If they see you, they'll shoot on the spot"

"Well come with us then!" Rose insisted, "We've got transport we can get you out, can't we Doctor?" She added when Sherie shook her head.

"Of course we do!" The Doctor grinned back, pointing to the Tardis parked on the pavement behind them.

Sherie turned to look at where he had indicated and gave a yelp.

"They're coming!" She hissed, already turning in the opposite direction.

Rose and The Doctor turned as one to look behind them.

The shadows of several figures could be seen moving across the houses, cast by a brilliant spotlight which was slowly working its way down the street towards the trio.

"The Tardis," The Doctor hissed, turning to face Rose, "we'll never get there in time"

Rose's expression deteriorated rapidly into panic, "What are we gonna do Doctor, they'll be here any minute!"

"Follow me" Sherie hissed to them, indicating to the nearest house.

Without waiting she ran over the pavement and began to climb the dilapidated picket fence surrounding the house.

The fence shuddered under her weight, despite her petite size, but held as she clambered over.

"Come on!" She insisted, "This is your only hope!"

The Doctor paused, glancing wistfully at his Tardis one last time, watching the shadows advancing and hearing the crunch of the soldier's boots on broken pieces of tar, before he grabbed Rose's hand and pulled her towards the house.

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><p><em>Dun Dun DUN! <em>

_hope you enjoyed _

_I'm really having fun with this and I'm pretty sure Cassidy will take over for a couple of Chapters aswell! :)_

_ SO PLEASE PLEASE **REVIEW**! Your comments matter to us! :) _


	3. Chapter 2:Double Life Of The Under Rated

**Note:** _(this is Lindal, Cassidy is busy with the other Fic on this account, go check it out guys it's really good!)_

_I've been very lucky this week, uni hasn't been to bad and I've got the chance to write more on this :) _

_hope you like it! _

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><p><strong>Chapter two: The Double Life Of the Under Rated<strong>

Both Rose and The Doctor vaulted over the fence and ran up to the dilapidated porch. The door was wide open, thrown against the old weatherboard wall by Sherie with such force that it had all but come off the hinges.

Clearly she had no intention of going back to her husband.

The Doctor and Rose entered together, trying to close the door after them only to have it swing back lamely against the outside wall.

"Never mind that Doctor, we've got to keep moving." Rose hissed, indicating to the dark passageway they had entered.

The Doctor nodded, pausing to hear any other signs of life within the house, all there was however, was the harsh barking of laughter from the soldiers on the road outside.

"Come on" he agreed, leading the way into the passageway by feeling around for the wall.

Rose did the same and together they began to creep down the hallway.

About halfway down the Doctor stopped abruptly in front of her and Rose ran straight into him.  
>"What..." She began to ask, only to be interrupted by a muffled cry.<p>

"It's ok it's just us, Sherie, it's the Doctor and Rose, you're fine" the Doctor muttered reassuringly to the person in front of him, who was none other then Sherie.

Sherie gave another small cry before the Doctor said in an urgent tone,  
>"Sherie this is very important, you need to keep moving, do you understand, if you stop now we could l get caught"<p>

"I can't" Sherie wailed, and Rose heard scuffling in front of her, "They're at the back aswell. I can hear them, we're trapped."

"Doctor" Road cried, looking up at what she supposed was the back of him,  
>"Isn't there something we can do?"<p>

"I-I" the Doctor faltered and she heard a heavy sigh, "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't of brought you here" he began to say, turning to face her.

He never got to finish his sentence as, at that exact moment, the floor gave way beneath them. Rose screamed and the Doctor gave a yelp of surprise as they plummeted to the ground below.

They landed with a soft thud on a group of strategically placed satin pillows in multiple shades of blue and red.

Both glanced around their new surroundings in slight confusion.

They were lying in a sort of underground tunnel, brilliantly furnished with a mahogany table and three regal looking armchairs.

On the table, an assortment of unrelated objects lay, all from different centuries. A vortex manipulator lay besides an ornate pocket watch and on top of that an arrowhead made of obsidian perched comfortably as if it belonged.

Beyond that, seated on a black leather armchair apart from everything, Sherie sat with her legs crossed, an amused look on her face that was unlike any expression Rose or the Doctor had seen since they met her.

"Now that's better isn't it?" She purred, smiling as she gestured to their surroundings.

"But you, you were terrified just seconds ago," Rose cried in disbelief, her eyes wide.

"What, you mean this?" Sherie asked as she adopted a mocking fearful tone, "they're gonna get us, we're dead" as she said this she raised her arms dramatically, "oh who will save us?"

She gave the other two a moment to exchange an uneasy glance before going on in a much harsher tone,"Oh please, do you think I got this far playing maiden in distress? I'm a survivor Doctor"

Shaking her head at their apparent naivety, Sherie raised herself out of the chair and crossed to the pillows they lay on, even her walk had changed, it was more of a confident gait now.

"why play it with us then?" Rose asked angrily and Sherie shrugged, "had to be sure you weren't my husband's lot"

When she reached Rose she held out an arm and helped the other woman to her feet, saying as she did so,"I built this myself, as a hideaway from my husband and his goons. Don't worry, they can't find us, the trapdoor," she pointed to the ceiling. "Is fixed into place with bolts from the Sunsphere itself."

"What's the Sunsphere?" Rise interrupted, dusting herself off.

"It's a city carved out from the side of a diamond mountain. Those bolts will outlast this civilization." The Doctor replied, helping himself up and whipping out his glasses in order to better inspect the ceiling.

"Bit of DNA recognition software going on here as well, making this whole opening..."

"Isomorphic yes" Sherie nodded.

The Doctor's face broke into a grin as he turned to face her, "And you built this yourself? oh you're brilliant, you are!"

"Hardly," Sherie replied with a disbelieving scoff, "this kind of technology is common across the other parts of the Empire"

"Ah, but all of that was constructed in laboratories, hundreds of workers over hundreds of factories, you built this all from scratch, by yourself!" The Doctor corrected her, patting her on the shoulder.

"Well, not exactly, I had help from my brother, Kitsch."  
>Sherie said softly, turning away from them to inspect the table behind her.<p>

"Oh I'd love to meet him, where is he then?" The Doctor asked, looking around hopefully as if Sherie's brother would just appear out of thin air.

"He's dead" Sherie responded in a neutral tone as if they were discussing the weather.

"I'm so sorry, really, I am, I had no idea" the Doctor began apologetically as Rose moved to automatically to hug Sherie who shrugged her off and turned to stare at the Doctor.

"It's not your fault, its mine really" she whispered, offering him a fake smile.

"Don't say that, off course it wasn't" Rose said soothingly but Sherie merely ignored her and went on in a false cheery voice,

"Sorry about lying to you before but, like I said, I'm a survivor, its all I know, how to lie and how to win."

"Win?" Rose asked in confusion.

Sherie nodded, her face suddenly alive with malice, "My husband things he planned everything here but he's wrong, I planted myself in his path purposely in order to survive. To him this is all a game, killing, lying, cheating, but if it is, then I'll be the winner, not him."

"What the hell is going on here?" Rose demanded after a second or two.

Sherie gave a deep breath as if expelling a thought from her mind and checked the watch on her wrist,  
>"I've got time I guess, they'll be finishing whoever else was stupid enough to break curfew above us. Sit down." She commanded, indicating to the armchairs grouped around the table.<p>

The Doctor and Rose did as she said and Sherie placed herself in the black armchair facing there's, crossing her legs once more and intertwining her fingers over her lap.

"There is a family that owns this town they started off pretty small, one of them invented the vortex manipulator. And then it went from there I guess, their influence expanded, they began to overtake a factory here, a company there and before we knew it, they controlled everything. The time agency, branches of the church, every major organization fell under one, it became the only organization."  
>Sherie fell silent for a second, allowing them to take in whatever she had said.<p>

"And where do you fit in?" The Doctor asked, turning his head to observe her more keenly.

"I was 6 at this time Doctor, my husband would have been around 23. He was just about to take over the business"

Rose let out a whistle that earned her a stern look from the Doctor, "sorry, its just, that's a bit of an age gap isn't it?"

Sherie smiled at her, "I guess so Rose." Her smile faded as she went on, "that was around the same time he murdered his first wife, Domino, not because she opposed him no" here Sherie let out a harsh laugh,"He did it because he thought she would be more powerful then him. she was a real charmer, had a whole lotta' influence."

Rose's jaw dropped, "that's terrible" she blurted out.

Sherie shook her head sadly,  
>"No Rose, Domino was an awful woman, in some ways worse then my husband. But that's nothing to do with me, I come in much later. It would have been 7 years ago, I was 19" a faraway smile appeared on her face for a moment,<p>

"I'm a puppeteer by profession, yeah I know" she grinned at the sight if the Doctor's raised eyebrow,  
>"I stick my hand up peoples arses for a living" she laughed,<p>

"Gotta make a living somehow and at that time I didn't have the ability to make things like that trapdoor. But children needed hope Doctor and with my shows, well, I like to think I gave them that"

Sherie put a finger to her lips at this point, indicating to the roof above, Rose and the Doctor strained to listen. From above them there came a painful creak of the floorboards, there was nothing after that and Sherie breathed a sigh of relief.

"Must have been the house creaking in the wind, go on" The Doctor muttered, gesturing for her to continue.

"It saved me in the end I guess, when the soldiers came to kill off the next generation. When they told me they needed me I couldn't believe it, what would soldiers want with a puppeteer? I assumed the worse. Instead I ended up in my stepdaughter's nursery. She was a clone of Domino, created almost 15 years after the original died. My husband's idea of a joke I suppose, he would no doubt think that he _cut_ _her down to size_."

"And that was how you met him" Rose filled in sympathetically.

"Oh yes, I planned it though, timed it so that I could be in the room when he finally visited his daughter." Sherie went on now, "Kitsch, my brother was part of my husband's guard, he got me into the household, Thamal couldn't resist a pretty young face" here she stopped to flash them both a smirk.

But something else caught the Doctors attention,  
>"Sorry, did you say Thamal?" He asked with a frown, removing his glasses.<p>

"Doctor?"Rose asked curiously.

Sherie nodded, leaning forward so that she were face to face with the Doctor,  
>"That's my husband, Thamal, Thamal<em> Harkness<em>"

There was an sharp intake of breath from Rose, "But Doctor, that's Jack's last name" she cried turning to the Doctor.

"It's more then that" the Doctor replied gravely, "he's Jack's ancestor"

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><p><em>Please Please Review guys! <em>


	4. Chapter 3: The Face of Boe

_**Hey guys, short update here, just introducing a certain someone into the story ;) **_

**_Really do apologise for the shortness of it, I wrote it on my phone so I guess I didn't really get just how short it actually was! It's a habit I need to break, I'll be sat in a uni lecture just writing up a story or something on my phone. Anyway let us know what you think!_**

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><p>"Hello"<br>"Mr Harkness. This is Troian Song, recruiter for the Boeshane Peninsula and Cartage County", Jack cut in,  
>"I know who you are. What are my results"<br>Troian rolled her eyes; she didn't know why she chose to stay in this job, the men were all arrogant pricks, and the women weren't much better.  
>"Your medicals were fine" she sighed, choosing to ignore the sexual innuendo that he shot back at this comment,<br>"as I said, your medicals were fine, your interview went well, though I'm not sure how much talking you and Mr Ray actually did if the gag I found afterwards was anything to go by.  
>But on the whole you seem to have been deemed an eligible candidate for the agency."<br>"When do I get my VM?" he asked;  
>"A vortex manipulator isn't a given right Mr Harkness, you have to earn it. Samantha Grant will take you out for a run tomorrow afternoon at around 16:15. If she believes that you are capable, and don't suffer any adverse effects from being exposed to the vortex, then you will be sent out on a solo, yet closely monitored travel."<br>Her eyes widened as she heard a low moan come through the phone, quickly confirming that he'd be there at his allocated time she hung up the phone

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><p>"Ugh, shit. Jack. What. Was. That."<p>

The man, Giodarno, grunted as Jack slid lower down his body,  
>"Shut up" moaned Janet, as the other woman grabbed at her in places she never even knew she could feel.<br>"God Sophia how do you do that".  
>Jack joined the two of them as Giodarno came up behind him to finish what he'd started.<br>"Have. You. Got. Oh fuck. Protection" Jack managed to spit out between his groans.  
>The four of turn around as a quiet chuckle fills the room,<br>"not wanting to deal with that morning sickness are we again Jack?" asked the 'Captain'.  
>The two woman flinch and move to cover themselves as they notice the camera he has trained on them.<br>"Wanting in on the action are we John?" Jack screams in frustration as the shrill sound of his cell phone blares through the room.  
>"Sorry gentleman, ladies. Gotta take this" he walks out, phone to his ear.<br>"Any developments?"


	5. Chapter 4: In Times of Despair

_hey there :) so last Chapter, like I promised, Cassidy wrote a chap for this fic! we've decided that she'll write the bits with Jack and I'll write the ones with Rose/Ten anyways, hope you like this chap :)_

_Thanks for all the reviews! _

**_~ from Lindal_ **

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><p><strong>Chapter Four: In Times Of Despair and Desperation <strong>

"Let me get my head around this, her husband is Jack Harkness' great-great-lots more greats-grandfather"  
>Rose cried in disbelief, looking between Sherie and the Doctor for an explaination.<p>

"Well yeah, except, not so many greats, human life expectancy has increased since the 21st century so you lot can afford to start having kids when you're oh I don't know, 60-70?" The Doctor replied, looking to Sherie for confirmation.

She laughed, "Maybe somewhere out in the other parts of the empire, but not in the world I live in Doctor"

"Yeah but, IVF, genetic manipulation, cloning, gene therapy are all readily available to you now. So theoretically, you could have healthy children at whatever age you chose" the Doctor responded, almost forgetting Rose in the process.

"Doctor" she muttered in annoyance, snapping her fingers in front of him to get his attention once more.

"Right yeah, sorry, anyway, that little girl, what was her name?" The Doctor asked, gesturing to Sherie.

"Zamaya" Sherie replied hurriedly and the Doctor went on,

"The story gets a bit hazy with her but she grows up marries in the family" he stopped explaining as Rose made a face. "No not like that, the family is what they call their organization"

Rose's expression changed abruptly from disgust to suspicion. "Well if you already knew that then why didn't you say anything?" She asked slowly.

The Doctor threw his hands up in protest, "there's a lot of organizations in the universe. Until she said Thamal I didn't understand the consequences."  
>"What consequences?" Rose asked,<br>Sherie and the Doctor exchanged a glance, the former crossing her arms and leaning back into the safety of her armchair, leaving the Doctor to explain.

"Whatever happens here, it could change Jack's own timeline, even prevent his existence at all." The Doctor began.

"But we left him stranded in space somewhere in the future, well, the future to us, but the past now and that's the present to him" Rose corrected herself.

Time travel, who knew it could be so confusing.

"I'm so sorry" the Doctor cried, turning to Sherie, "but we can't get involved, really, I can't," he reached out a hand to grasp hers in farewell but she responded only by pushing the armchair back, out of his reach.  
>"You don't think I've heard that line before?" She asked in a deathly quiet tone, oblivious to the regretful look on the Doctor's face and the confused one on Rose's.<p>

"No Doctor, you can help me, I've heard you talk long enough to understand that you could be our saviour" she paused briefly, leaning back so that her face was in shadow once more before going on, "you chose not to"

The Doctor said nothing for a minute as he nodded sadly and made an attempt to stand.  
>Rose looked between him and Sherie incredulously.<br>"That's it? You're not gonna tell her she's wrong or something?"

The Doctor looked over at her, staring right into the depths of her eyes so that she almost thought she could feel the emotions he felt.  
>"She's right. I chose to. I could save them, and a better world would take the place of this one, but there are laws of time and as a Timelord Rose, as the last of the Timelords, I'm choosing to upload those laws." He said in as neutral a tone as he could manage.<p>

Rose nodded and began to stand as well. Sherie did the same in a much quicker motion, closing the distance between her and the Doctor so that she could his in his ear, "Don't think I haven't heard the stories, I know all about you, a lonely angel with a dark past, a being who turned away from his own people and then ran because he wasn't man enough to take it. It's one thing to run once in your life, but running from everything? Well that just makes you a coward."

"Oi" Rose growled angrily from her place. Sherie turned abruptly to face her.

The Doctor merely lowered his head.

"You weren't there ok? You've got no right to judge him!" She went on, her whole body shaking.

Sherie merely smirked as she took a step towards Rose and said in a staged whisper, "But that's just the thing dear, everyone who was there perished. Everyone _except_ him. We'll never know the true story of the Time War will we?"

She spun back briefly to stare at the Doctor. "Both our kin died in blood and sweat and flames. The only difference was, you killed yours"

As she turned back to Rose the Doctor heard a resounding slap echoing off the metal walls.

He looked up to see Sherie gingerly touching her cheek while Rose lowered her hand, which was still shaking uncontrollablely.  
>"Rose!" The Doctor cried, running over to her at once.<p>

She ignored him and addressed Sherie instead, "you're a real piece of work you know that?"

"If I am its because that's what this place does to people" Sherie replied savagely. "There's no place for pretty wall flowers" she added meaningfully.

"Stop it!" The Doctor cried, facing them both.

They ignored him as Rose hissed in outrage, "wall flower? I've fought daleks and cybermen and raxi-raxical...siltheen, I've fought them." She finished lamely.

Sherie responded by laughing mockingly, "I've seen worse things among humanity then you'll see in a lifetime dear"

"Girls," The Doctor began once again trying to break up the argument. Again he was ignored.

"I've seen things in humans too," Rose retorted angrily. Bit as she went on her voice became much softer. "I've seen em kick you when you're down, and take away you're hope when that's all you've got. And no one wants to give you a chance, you feel like, no one else really gets ya, like no ones listenin to what you want, like you're not important" she stopped there, tears in her eyes. Slowly she looked up at Sherie and shrugged, "suppose you think I'm weak"

She was caught off guard when the other woman hugged her tightly, reaching up to wipe away her own tears as she did so.

"No Rose, cos that's exactly how I feel." Sherie whispered.

Rose patted her awkwardly on the back, glancing at the Doctor and relieved to see a look of bewilderment that mirrored her own.

"I'm sorry" Sherie cried as she began to break away from Rose a full minute later.  
>"Ow, Sherie, you're hands got tangled in my hair" Rose cried and Sherie immediately moved go help her.<br>"Oh god I'm sorry, really, both of you" Sherie cried in earnest, briefly turning to the Doctor and then back again.

"This is my people's war and it's up to us to fight it. We've lost enough people to have others come in and become casualties." She finished, her voice hard again.

"Try and avert a war then, don't start another" The Doctor said in a loud voice.

Sherie wiped a couple more tears away, nodding at his words. "I'll take that advice Doctor"

Rose smiled at her, "and I'm. Sorry, for you know" she mimed slapping the other woman.

Sherie dismissed the incident with a wave of her hand.  
>"I deserved it Rose. I can be a right Bitch at times."<p>

She turned to the Doctor with a warm smile. "Well go on then, the soldiers will be gone by now"

The Doctor nodded gravely, "Good Luck" he said and, gesturing for Rose to follow him went to stand directly under the trapdoor overhead.

Rose followed him with a sad look back at Sherie but the other woman had already turned her back to open the trapdoor.

With a metallic click the lock which sealed the two ends of the door released, swinging in wards.  
>Rose gave a start but the Doctor held her hand, his eyes glued to the ceiling.<p>

"Good bye" Rose called out to Sherie.

There was no answer, instead Rose felt the ground move below her.

Looking down she saw that the chunk of floorboards that her and the Doctor were standing on has cone clean away from the rest and was rising up to meet the floor above.

"Ingenious" The Doctor cried, looking down to Sherie and grinning.

"Good bye" Sherie called back before walking backwards, out of view.

Neither the Doctor nor Rose saw her hide the lock of Rose's hair that she had stolen in her jacket pocket.

As soon as the platform reached the floor of the house it came to an abrupt stop, allowing Rose and The Doctor time go jump off before it began its descent back into the hidden room, metallic gears whirring.

"What do you think she'll do?" Rose asked as they crept across the dark passageway once more. "About her husband I mean"

When the Doctor didn't answer she went on, "Doctor, what happens to her?"

Wistfully the Doctor replied, "It's a fixed point in time Rose"

"Doctor, tell me" Rose insisted.  
>The Doctor sighed but nethertheless he answered her, "On the 3rd of February of this year there's an explosion at the organization headquarters, at that precise moment a chain of 27 rigged explosions goes off all across the city, all of them situated within other important organization buildings"<p>

"And she's behind em, the bombs, she sets em off doesn't she Doctor?" Rose pressed on.

The Doctor replied sadly, "but that's not all, see when the police investigate they find her body among the dead"

Rose's eyes widened," so she kills herself? To save everyone else? But, we could go back, warn her..."She began to protest only to have the Doctor turn around and despite the poor lighting, place his hands firmly on her shoulders, " can't you see Rose, that's why we have to leave we can't stay, I can't get involved. Just think, for a minute, if Sherie doesn't sacrifice herself and her husband lives? Or if he dies to early, or if his daughter dies. Anything could go wrong if we stay and I can't take that chance. What happens this year always happens."

Rose sighed, admitting defeat.  
>"It's so unfair though" she whispered.<p>

"I know" the Doctor replied sadly.

And with that he let go of her and turned around to through open the door and step into the garden outside.

"No!" The Doctor cried as soon as he was on the porch steps.

"What? Doctor what is it?" Rose asked, pushing him out of the way so that she could see for herself.

"No, no, no!" The Doctor cried.

Rose looked at the pavement across the road, understanding dawning on her in an instant.

Across the road stood a group of soldiers dressed in brown uniforms and all armed with rifles. They were milling curiously around a blue police box that wad slowly being loaded onto the back of an Army truck. Some were laughing while others reached up to tap on the side of the walls.

"Oh my god" Rose cried.

As the Doctor continue to loudly express his distress,  
>"Why would they even want a police box..."<p>

Suddenly he turned back to Rose, his face darkening.

"What?" She asked slowly.

"Sherie" he spat back angrily, his whole body shaking with fury. "She knew they'd take the TARDIS so we'd have no choice but to stay. She distracted us, oh she's clever!" He hissed and with that he strode rigidly back into the house.

"Doctor!" Rose cried, running after him.

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